Tag: CONNECT THE TESTAMENTS

  • CONNECTING HISTORICAL DOTS

    Connect The Testaments1 Chronicles 4:24-5:26; 1 Timothy 4:1-5; Psalm 78:1-12 Biblical lists can be annoying, but they’re also a testament to God’s faithfulness. It’s a true gift when someone in a faith community records the history of the group and their work—particularly when God has answered prayers. By looking through a recorded history, like a…

  • DYSFUNCTIONAL PROBLEM SOLVING

    Connect The Testaments1 Chronicles 3:1-4:23; 1 Timothy 3:8-16; Psalm 77:1-20 When I locate a problem, I often fixate on it. I think that if I analyze it enough, I can solve it. This is a problem when I come to difficult issues that require someone else’s expertise. Stubbornly, I want to figure out the problem…

  • SMALL STARTS

    Connect The Testaments1 Chronicles 2:1-55; 1 Timothy 3:1-7; Psalm 75:1-76:12 In Paul’s qualifications for overseers, he mentions a necessary trait for anyone who wants to lead in a community: “He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household,…

  • A SENSE OF HISTORY

    Connect The Testaments1 Chronicles 1:1-54; 1 Timothy 2:1-15; Psalm 74:1-23 When I was in sixth grade, my teacher assigned our class a family genealogy and history project. At first it was frustrating. It seemed like unnecessary work. But eventually I became obsessive over it as I discovered our family stories. Many of us share this…

  • SHIPWRECKED

    Connect The TestamentRuth 3:1-4:22; 1 Timothy 1:12-20; Psalm 73:1-28 “I am setting before you this instruction, Timothy my child, in accordance with the prophecies spoken long ago about you, in order that by them you may fight the good fight, having faith and a good conscience, which some, because they have rejected these, have suffered…

  • THE BIBLE IN THE DEVELOPED WORLD

    Connect The TestamentsRuth 1:1-23; 1 Timothy 1:1-11; Psalm 73:1-10 In our developed world, we don’t consider famines very often. If there were a famine in our lands, we could navigate through it because of our importing infrastructure. This isn’t the case for the developing world: famines mean walking miles to find food and water, and…

  • BEING GOOD AT WHAT MATTERS

    Connect The TestamentsJudges 20:1-21:25; Philippians 4:21-23; Psalm 7:1-20 Though prayer is important, it’s an area of our faith lives that we often neglect. But people of great faith in the Bible relied on prayer—and not just for difficult situations. From general direction to specific details, they turned everything over to prayer. God spoke to them…

  • OLD, WISE, AND DESPERATELY IN NEED OF GOD

    Connect The TestamentJudges 18:1-19:30; Philippians 4:10-20; Psalm 71:1-24 Sometimes we expect that we’ll naturally grow in faith as we grow older. We tend to see elderly people as those who have been molded and shaped by life—rock-solid in their faith and untapped sources of wisdom. That, or we speed around them in the grocery aisle,…

  • SUCCESS DECEIVES

    Connect The TestamentsJudges 15:1-17:13; Philippians 4:2-9; Psalm 69:18-70:5 When leaders come to power, there are always people who become insistent on stopping them. It’s incredible how easy it is for people to justify envy or hatred for authority figures. Most of us have made the offhand remark, “I hate that guy.” And in those words,…

  • MAKING GOOD OUT OF BAD

    Connect The TestamentsJudges 11:1-12:15; Philippians 3:1-11; Psalm 68:15-35 God is renowned for working through unlikely means with the most unlikely people. During the period of the judges, there were few candidates less likely for God’s work than Jephthah himself: “Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty warrior; he was the son of a prostitute, and Gilead…